2008

Film Blog for Friday November 7^th, 2008

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Insults remaining-- limited to scat and sass.

Alaska has a governor, Arizona a senator and Washington a new president and vice president.

Everyone seems content with the historical implications.

Everyone is at least considering conciliatory feelings.

Except me.

I need a question answered before I join the parade.

Are we going to put EXCLUSIVITY on the shelf?

For after all, Democrat exclusivity is no more enlightening than was the Republican reign of sameness.

Whether we are praising the virtue of brie or cheese whiz it doesn’t matter. Why are we excluding one over the other?

Why can’t you like NASCAR and opera?

Why can’t you be a well-dressed good smelling macho man?

Why can’t women be strong and feminine?

Why can’t you go to Big Time Wrestling one night and the circus with the kids the next?

Why can’t you hunt and still respect the danger of the extinction of the white-tailed deer?

Why can’t you believe in God and still have things about religion that piss you off?

Why can’t you value life but still want to extend choice to women?

Why can’t you own a gun and still see the wisdom of gun control?

Why can’t you be strong without being the silent type?

Why can’t you bomb the hell out of the bad guys without getting bored and trying to make everyone the bad guy?

Why can’t we talk before we kill?

Why can’t minimum wage workers get a fair shake without either starving them or lavishing them?

Why is common exclusive from sense and sense becoming so uncommon?

Barrack Bema won because he wasn’t as angry as John McCain. At least, we don’t think so. What happens when we need angry? I think that is what 46% of the country wondered. But, if we elected John McCain what happens when we need finesse and restraint. 52% of the country posed that question. That leaves me again.

I want a man (or woman) for all seasons—non-exclusive to one narrow wedge of reasoning. I do not want Hollywood or Evangelicals deciding the fate of this country. I want people who respect the spontaneity of reasonable human choice and behavior to then react for the common good at the moment we need in a measured and intelligent way.

I want to conclude that this kind of determined resolute canny is neither gay nor straight, God or Satan, North or South, gentle or rough, Democrat or Republican or male or female.

Human.

I want to hear that word.

Europe, Iraq , China , Alabama , Korea and New York are full of these creatures. Beings who have two desires—self preservation and domination. Let’s play up the first and expose the second.

Do I think that President Obama can achieve this balance?

If he wants to and doesn’t pander to the exclusive fretters of his party.

Others may piously pray for him.

Good.

We seem to have that covered.

I am going to watch him. Call him out when he is as exclusive as his predecessor.

We won’t survive with four more years of my way or the highway.

Even if it is more gently stated-- My hope or the boulevard.

Yours,

The Film Blog – Friday, October 31st, 2008

There is a job description, you know.

It is neither a beauty contest nor a confirmation of one’s popularity.

Like any other job, being President of the United States comes with a list of responsibilities. Previous experience might be helpful but is often rendered insipid.

One thing is for certain—it is a CEO-driven role. The importance of understanding this is that whether the folks in Nebraska , California , New York or Alabama know it or not, the rest of the world judges us and evaluates our worthiness based upon who we select to fill this position.

Case in point: the past eight years.

Even though I told you during many of my blogs that I call him President Bush and give honor to the office, George W. Bush was not well-suited to be the President of the United States . Whether by choice, design or will, he lacked the political, social, cultural and creative savvy to represent the noble notion. He was found wanting in a working knowledge of the economic climate, amicability between the political parties, flexibility in making decisions by using a multitude of counselors and in pulsing the general welfare of the American populace.

The most important anointing that the President of the United States energizes is maintaining vision for our country.

Without a vision, the people perish.

Any good leader needs to be wary of the danger of leading people by allowing them to look at what is around them instead of keeping their eyes on what we’ve all agreed to be the prize. President Bush, after 9/11, took his eyes off the prize. He asked us to look at the world around us and evaluate our decisions, our future, our finances, our patriotism and our spirituality based upon what we saw rather than the imprint in our spirits of what we envisioned.

America cannot stop being the bulwark for freedom just because temporarily there are small pockets of resistance to common decency on the planet.

We cannot cease to be the king of diplomacy just because tiny serfs are biting at our heels.

We cannot throw away the Geneva Convention because we lack information and intelligence.

We cannot cast aside the importance of art, creativity and culture to stimulate a macho mentality in order to prime the people for war.

Temporary insight brings about temporary solutions, which lead to permanent repercussions.

Our mistake? We abandoned our vision in favor of a common view. We squandered our insight and began to peer at the world around us. We rejected our foresight and determined our policy by the erratic agenda of our enemies.

I do not know how you’re going to vote on Tuesday, November 4^th, but I can tell you this: the person you’re voting for must embody the concept of a nation that still believes in the precepts of freedom, fair play, justice and integrity.

Yes, we’re going to go through a financial difficulty. We need a leader who will tell us not to be nasty urchins begging for bread in the street, but instead, stand tall and follow the principles we know have brought us through hard times before. We need a leader who will not become flustered and over-react simply because he can, but instead will reach into the great community chest of American history and find the values that carried us through the previous difficult junctures.

America has one problem. We have lost the vision of who we are. We are like a young man preparing for his first date who looks in the mirror, combs his hair, heads out the door, is blown by a gust of wind but instead of walking back into the house and looking in the mirror again to see how wind-blown he is, licks his hand and reaches up and tries to correct the damage without any idea of what hairs are out of place.

It’s been a while since we’ve looked in the mirror—and the wind has blown.

We desperately need a leader who will insist that we correct the errors of decades of excess by returning to a vision of ourselves. Because without that vision—without that close introspection into the soul of what makes America unique and valuable, we become just another rogue country, although well-intentioned, with no respect for the global community.

Are we going to perish? Or are we going to find a leader who will bring us back to our own reflection—someone who will take us forward into the next decade instead of encouraging us to languish in a former time of his liking?

We will never be as innocent as we were in the 1950’s; as carefree as we were in the 1960’s; as self-involved as we were in the 1970’s; as nationally integrated into a common theme as we were in the 1980’s; as flamboyant as we were in the 1990’s.

And we will never be, God willing, as skittish and frightened as we were in the first decade of this century.

We must regain the humor and heart of Lincoln, the tenacity of Washington, the rallying power of Theodore Roosevelt, the simple wisdom and application of Franklin Roosevelt and the youth and energy of John and Robert Kennedy, to portray to our world the reasons for rationality and to address the problems around us by keeping our eyes on a vision of who we are.

Mr. President, we ask that you return us to our vision. We are tired of viewing matters through a glass darkly.

This will be your greatest challenge.

This will be where you meet the most resistance.

And this will be where you forge not only the legacy of your Presidency, but the determination of our future.

Yours,

The Film Blog – Friday, October 24^th, 2008

(actually, Monday)

A belated, procrastinated effort sent your way this week from a traveling troubadour who has been in residence in the state of Indiana and has just returned to discover that our Christmas movie we made last year in the state of Michigan , entitled Wonderful, was voted the Best Movie Made in Michigan at the Flint Film Festival. Special thanks out to Jordan Brun for representing us at the festival and always nice to receive confirmation for craft.

I am awaiting my special paycheck from the John McCain campaign since, while I was in Indiana , he rose five points in the polls. Just so you’ll know, I’m being silly and I really don’t work for the McCain/Palin ticket. (Actually, I’m not quite sure than anyone is working for the McCain/Palin ticket anymore…)

I had an absolutely delightful time with the folks in the Hoosier state, dispelling all my myths that Gene Hackman lives there and that they all play basketball. I will have to admit, until those falsehoods were shed, I did produce some hurt feelings. My apologies to the Indiana people. (Just for the record, they don’t like it when you mention that Indiana is just the word “Indian” with an “a” on the end. Go figure.)

I will be sending you a blog this week on time with my final thoughts on the American election, which is deeply resembling, at this point, a junta takeover in the jungles of Nicaragua .

Have a nice part of a week and if any of you were setting your clocks or timing your medication by the arrival of my blog, I’m sorry—and I hope you weren’t late or had a seizure or anything.

Yours,

Film Blog for Friday October 17^th, 2008

I remember what my Grandpa Ford used to say.

He would overhear old, cantankerous codgers around him complaining about the “changing world” and he would laugh and say “Well, I guess things are just movin’ on”.

It never made him popular with the Geritol brigade but the kids loved him and history honors his words.

Things are just movin’ on.

You can stop and debate whether it is for the better but you certainly will risk being ground up by the gears of perpetual motion.

We are global.

We may want to shrink our world down to the dimensions of our family and abide within the walls of our assumed values and precepts but we will be overwhelmed by reality and humiliated by necessity.

It is not a white Anglo-Saxon world.

If you haven’t been out of your environs enough to discover this transition you can trust me and of course 6 billion other multi-cultural and multi-hued folks word on it.

It is not a democratic world.

It is not a Christian world.

It is not an entertainment based world.

It is not a family values world.

It is not a straight world.

It is not a gay world.

It is not a gun-totin world.

It is not a firearms-free world.

It is not a world speckled with neighborhood watches.

It is not a safe world.

It is not a dangerous world.

It is not a rich world.

It is not an impoverished world.

It is not Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Shinto, Zorasterism, Communist, Marxist. Socialistic, humanistic, nationalistic or fatalistic world either.

It is none of these while simultaneously being all of the above.

We need more than a cowboy.

We need more than a provincial party-line conservative or liberal.

We need people who can read and write, agreeing to learn through disagreement.

We need a populace who are vulnerable enough to check all jingoism at the door while maintaining the kind of wisdom that prepares them to compete in a global economy and dialogue.

We can no longer divide the world by color.

Or by gods.

Or by ideology.

Or proximity to us.

Or financial balances.

Or even nations.

The first country that will abandon foolish pride in preference to intelligent leadership will be the Pied Piper of the next great movement towards peace.

Yes, Pax Americana.

Sounds good doesn’t it.

John McCain and Sarah Palin are faithful servants of our cause. But, we need a president, cabinet and Congress that looks like OUR WORLD not just our precinct.

It will be difficult for Hamas , Iran and Al Queida to call us hypocrites and oppressors when one of our native sons, Barack Obama, white/black/Hawaiaan/Harvard/Chicago/Washinton is elected to be our leader.

Is he the most qualified?

No one is qualified for what is happening.

He has three great attributes to bring to the table.

1. He is young, pliable and vibrant

2. He is smart and willing to learn

3. He looks like our emerging planet.

This is what we need to progress in our world instead of becoming a footnote in history--the latest faltering empire--who refused to evolve towards the movement.

Grandpa Ford was right.

I guess things are just movin’ on.

Yours,

The Film Blog – Friday, October 10^th, 2008

On Saturday, October 18^th, 2008 at twelve o’clock noon, our Christmas movie, Wonderful, will be honored at the Flint Film Festival in Flint, Michigan—just a heads-up to all of our Michigan readers and folks who follow the work of the Extra/Ordinary Film Project.

I have been taking this particular movie with me since September and it is just a delight. We so enjoyed the people of Michigan during the filming and all the cast did both an energetic and intelligent job with my script.

If you are in that area, do not miss the chance to go out and see the movie during the festival.

Also, it was a week of sending out the new movie, Four on the Floor, to film festivals all over the country. If I’m not mistaken, I think it was eleven.

I know from time to time in my blog you attempt to guess what my political leanings are and probably some of you think you know, but honestly, during my entire journey here on earth, I’ve never had any political leanings. My leanings have always been two-fold—artistic and spiritual (which, by the way, I would contend are the same.)

I tend to be defensive against those who taint either one of these great human innovators—people who stunt the growth of artistry or who put spirituality in the box are the true villains of any time.

Honestly, I don’t know who politically offers a better climate for artistic and spiritual expansion. I know this—we are approaching our problems with Wall Street and Main Street as an economic dilemma instead of a creative and spiritual vacuum in our society.

Somewhere along the line, the ache in our being and the creak in our soul have to be identified for the hungering and thirsting for personal discovery that it is instead of trying to plug a new I-pod or Blackberry into it. The aspiration of the prophet proclaiming that “having food and raiment therewith to be content” may seem a little short-sighted or even ludicrous in our world of materialistic piling-on, yet I think we could gain some insight by focusing on the word “content.”

To me the word “content” is best defined in application as a question. Has the latest acquisition granted me the peace of mind to pursue something or somebody outside of my own three square feet of awareness? If the answer is no, then it is part of the piling on problem that clutters not only our closet but our brain also. If the answer is yes and it has motivated me to want to share my sense of well-being with others even perhaps less fortunate than myself, then the acquisition was truly divinely inspired.

We will not see an end to our economic situation until we cease and desist to define our parameters of success by a single measuring stick of general accumulation. For instance, last year my income didn’t increase that much. On paper I probably fell a little deeper in debt, but I traveled the country and interacted with tens of thousands of human souls, wrote six new screenplays, began my daily blog called jonothots and saw the creation of three new movies. That’s just to mention the creative angle.

In the spiritual realm…well, to be a bit clichéd, my cup runneth over.

I also was blessed with good health and lost thirty-five additional useless pounds.

I am, of all men (and women)—blessed.

Do I want more money? Do I wish my mortgage would stop looking like a ticker-tape on Wall Street? Do I desire fuel for my car that doesn’t empty my wallet? Sure.

But until then, I pursue the creative and the spiritual, knowing that the political and the financial are very transient, unpredictable and somewhat beyond my control.

What is your feeling?

Paying my bills now is the same sensation I got one summer when I was asked to shovel manure out of a barn. After the initial shock of the job description, I fell into a rhythm, completed the work and turned around to realize that the livestock had started the process all over again. Still, all in all, I was able to shut the barn door for a few minutes, tip back a lemonade, collect my check and say, “Ah. I’m rich.”

Idealistic, you say? Perhaps. But having visited the tomb of pessimism and the waiting room of realism, I will opt for the playground of ideals any day of the week.

Have a great time. I will think about you on my way to Texas.

Yours,

www.jonathots.com

The Film Blog – October 3, 2008

Sitting here in my office this morning writing this blog to you, I am reminded of the twelve feature-length films I have written over the past two years which have been produced and turned into product and the four others that are in Final Draft form, ready to be produced and set in motion.

I realize how inexperienced most of you are and how you probably don’t understand how the process of writing functions and how much effort it takes to put together a script with ideas and plotlines, attempting to keep it both interesting and fast-paced. I do run across those of you who are naïve enough to believe that they could just sit down at a computer and do what I do but it is truly reckless and dangerous to put such a task, demanding such great ability in the hands of people like yourself who have no natural aptitude to do it or even set in motion the process.

So how does that feel?

How does it feel for someone to speak down to you in a condescending tone?

Even if you think that they might have some status or even purpose for the things they say, it is hurtful, isn’t it? Yet everything I said in those first two paragraphs is exactly the tone and temperament that both John McCain and Sarah Palin used toward their counterparts, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, in the recent debates.

The tone was condescending and the temperament—well, the temperament is the whole issue, now, isn’t it?

I’m a businessman and a creative person and I will tell you this: talent will only take you so far and then reality shows up with a new twist and a new turn and if you do not have the temperament to make adjustments, you will fail.

While we perch precariously in this country trying to have the “great conversation” about experience and qualifications, life is continually coming up with nuances to tatter our efforts of understanding and to shatter the fragile glass container holding our precious plans.

At the end of the day, the person who is most qualified for any job is the individual who understands how to start it and has the heart and soul to make revisions along the way. When I hear words like, “unapologetic,” and phrases like “we are an exceptional people,” I shiver in my boots at the presumption that Mama Nature is actually going to tolerate such belligerent conceit without slapping us around until sense enters our brains.

I am a very apolitical person but I am not stupid. I know the difference between policies which can work and policies which will have to evolve through the application of adaptation. So I don’t judge people on what they’re telling me in this moment, I evaluate each person on his or her flexibility.

If an actor comes in and wants to be part of a movie and they begin to lay down rules and regulations about what they are willing to do and what they are not willing to do, no matter how much I may appreciate their gift, I must pass on hiring them because their lack of willingness to be an evolving creature will soon render their value worthless.

I was shocked by the temperament of both John McCain and Sarah Palin in these debates. I do not agree with everything that Barack Obama stands for, but I had to step back in admiration at his resilience in taking massive strokes against his ego and remaining intact.

It hurts when people say “you don’t understand,” “you’re naïve” or “you’re reckless and dangerous.” And when we are hurt there is a tendency to want to strike back. I demonstrated this in the first two paragraphs. If I would have continued with that kind of ferocity, you soon would have abandoned reading the blog—and rightfully so.

· Temperament matters—especially when at your disposal is an army of several hundred thousand troops and an arsenal of nuclear weapons that could destroy the world many times over.

· Temperament matters when little children are being thrust into poverty by economic situations that need to be accounted for instead of run from in terror, casting the blame on other folks.

· Temperament matters when there are crazed leaders in this world who cannot be responded to with crazed behavior, but instead demand the soul of an angel instead of the thunderbolts of a demons.

· Temperament matters when the health of a nation is being jeopardized by greedy doctors, hospitals, and drug companies who honor a financial line in the sand as the lives of common folks hang in the balance.

· Temperament matters when you cannot treat a colleague who is supposed to be your peer and your equal with respect when there are those in the world much less fortunate and maybe even less deserving who still require your time and attention.

John and Sarah, you have a few more weeks to revise your tone and change your attitude.

And if Barack and Joe decide to become agents of retaliation instead of angels of reconciliation, may they have the same curse placed upon them.

That curse? We are too valuable. We are too important in the eyes of God. And we are too intelligent to allow the arrogant to rule us.

Yours,

Film Blog September 26^th, 2008

THE BALLAD OF JASS IN YOUR FACE (Sung to tune of Beverly Hillbillies)

Come and listen to a story ‘bout a dude named Jass

Who went to California so they’d see his pretty face

To make movies there is what he wants to do

And be one of Hollywood ’s famous chosen few.

He comes from a land where grits are common fare

Goin’ to a place where folks don’t really care

That you’re from the South is not a positive

In the land of the sun where movie stars live.

He’s made him some flicks and played a part or two

Done him some college learning what they knew

He packed his Explorer and headed out West

To find fame and fortune through a screen test.

He passed through Dallas on Interstate twenty

Saw oil wells and cactus aplenty

Drove on in before the early morning’s light

Settled on in this past Wednesday night.

Now, will he make it or end up a bust

Who do you know, who can you really trust?

But, California is the place you ought to be

So he loaded up his stuff and went to Glendale —EE

So this ends my tale about a dude named Cring

Living out the dream on a single shoe string

Acting out the part of a man obsessed

Hoping that his car won’t be repossessed

Dreamer, that is,

Movie star--go so far

But ya’ll come back now

(Blessed, Blasted or Busted)

Ya’ hear!

Yours,

Film Blog for Friday September 19^th, 2008

September 13^th was a day of two premiers.

It began in Shelbyville and ended in Nashville at Watkins.

I was not there but heard great reports.

The folks in Shelbyville were a delight. 154 souls passed through the doors to see the presentation of FOUR ON THE FLOOR. We were so touched by the folks who just hung around afterwards to enjoy the cast and celebrate the passion of the movie. Little country Southern towns take such a bad rap from people for being backward and pig-headed.

Not so in Shelbyville.

We had our share of detractors but overall the welcoming spirit from the crowd was reminiscent of the true meaning of Southern Hospitality.

Then at Watkins, we filled the place—nearly 200 folks. It was a celebration. It is what the story and movie evoke. We all are in need of simpler things to celebrate to energize us to greater tasks. It was certainly our best premier in Nashville to date.

If you missed it, get your copy of the movie at http://www.extraordinaryfilmproject.com/four_on_the_floor_.htm

Other news: Jasson Cring is headed off to pursue his career in Los Angeles . Russ and Tracy are traveling on weekends to show the movies all across America . We are in pre-production on the next film IZ AND PAL—the story of two twelve year-old-boys, one Israeli the other Palestinian, who set off to solve the Middle East crises on their own. FOUR ON THE FLOOR is going to film festivals, distribution houses and on a limited theatrical release.

Good week.

Thank you for making this work such a great playtime of joy.

Yours,

Blog for Friday, September 12, 2008

The news media is wrong.

About what?

Presenting conventional wisdom that candidates for political office must strike back hard at their opponents when accusations and allegations are put forth.

It has done nothing but create the tableau of squabbling children being tolerated by a disillusioned and frustrated public.

When has pettiness and retaliation ever been anything but a schoolyard shenanigan; an action which when we were in third grade got us suspension or a whipping?

So, what should we do when false statements or attacks are made against us?

Has anybody ever heard of clever?

Returning in kind merely amplifies the noise instead of bringing focus to our individual voice. Cleverness: Humor dipped in wit with a nutty candy shell.

Who can resist it?

Obviously, politicians.

Do we really want someone in government that cannot find a better retort to criticism and challenge than “Nah, nah, nah, you, too?”

Class. Rising above the noise to make music. Using wisdom to respond to rancor.

How about an example?

Attack: You are not experienced enough to be president.

Answer: I am experienced enough to know that neither of us has been president and it might be smart to tread a little easier on our new tires. We are just getting revved up.

Attack: You are too old to be president? Well, I am too old to run a marathon, have a sixteenth birthday party, or be under the age of fifty. But since this job requires none of the above, I guess I’ll just take a deep, healthy breath and do my best.

A soft answer turns away wrath.

And stupidity.

And backlash from voters.

I am tired of the presidential race being a contest to find the more obnoxious, unqualified, narcissist.

Maybe tip our hat for a change to someone who can don different hats when the occasion demands.

I don’t blame President Bush for the past eight years. He was honest with us about his intentions and style of leadership.

I don’t blame Bill Clinton for Monica. Bill came to us unzipped and ready.

I blame myself and you a little.

For believing that verbal brawling creates anything but a bully.

Anyway, did you see the article in The Nashville Scene? Premier Saturday morning in Shelbyville and Saturday night at Watkins. Grab on.

Yours,

Film Blog for September 5^th, 2008

Twelve.

We have finished twelve feature length films in what ended up being nineteen months.

A lifetime body of work completed in about a year and a half.

Lenders Morgan, Bernee, Ought, Budd, Too, $6Man, Summer’s Morn, The Drive, Wonderful, Melvyn’s Clock, Has Been, and now, the rock musical Four on the Floor.

Do you hear any trumpets blowing? Maybe, if you get close enough to hear the orchestra in my soul.

While our country debates the experience of our presidential candidates we, here at Extra/Ordinary, have quietly gone out and achieved experience the only way you can.

We earned it.

One session at a time.

One movie at a time.

One script at a time.

One actor/director flair up at a time.

One defunct location at a time.

One deadline at a time.

One packed premier at a time.

One premier vacant an audience.

One dream at a time.

One hope deferred at a time.

You cannot be elected into experience. You cannot trump it up. You cannot project effort from one arena into another.

Movie making means making movies.

Foreign policy means negotiating with foreign powers.

Ditch digging means shovel into dirt. There is no replacement for on sight struggle and tribulation.

We did not do it alone. We did not achieve it because we are overwhelmed with talent or granted God’s favor. We showed up, did what was necessary, put in the hours and failed with a bit of grace and then LEARNED.

I can recommend it.

Two years ago my son asked me to write a screenplay. I had never written one. I had written books, music, articles and essays. Is that enough experience to write a screenplay?

No. It is muscle you can exercise to get in shape to write one.

I studied the art form. I read cold scripts. I bought the right format for my computer. I watched movies. I wrote some scenes and sought critique. I purged my mind of any notion that my previous duties and experience qualified me to be a screenwriter.

I LEARNED.

I sat at the feet of life and took in the instruction necessary to be included.

I was afraid but exhilarated.

I was incompetent but challenged.

I was inept but improving.

I had aptitude which with my attitude created altitude for my attempts to soar.

I wrote. I didn’t postulate on previous achievement.

I wrote.

In less than two years I completed seventeen feature scripts and a half dozen shorts.

I won an award for Best Screenplay.

I am now considered to be experienced because I was willing to be jostled by effort and trial and LEARN.

Come see the evidence of our study.

September 13^th with the premier of our twelfth at Watkins and in Shelbyville—two showings—two locations—same great rockin’ flick.

Yours,

Film Blog – Friday, August 29^th, 2008

History, my dingledork.

I am so sick and tired of hearing people say that the Democratic convention and the nomination of Barack Obama to the Presidency is a “history-making event.”

We’re not stupid, are we? We know what that’s code for. It’s the same thing they did in the sixties:

“We’re gonna let blackie sit at the lunch counter so he doesn’t push us for the vote.”

“We’re gonna let the teen-agers listen to Elvis Presley so they won’t get hooked up with The Who or Led Zeppelin.”

Does everybody understand that when our culture throws somebody a bone it’s because there’s no meat on it? Somebody’s already eaten the meat off, and out of the goodness of their heart they throw the dog a bone, thus portraying clearly what kind of animal they are expressing their generosity to.

Pardon my language, but to hell with that.

We can’t call it “history” when it should have happened decades ago based upon our own constitution and seemingly what was meant to be the national progress on the issue of race relations. In other words, how can you call it “history-making” when it wasn’t supposed to be a problem in the first place?

I think if we accept the idea that this is “history making,” then we’re going to pat ourselves on the back for how “white” we are and how generous we’re being to this flailing black man from the south side of Chicago and how lucky he and his cohorts should feel to even be included in the process and therefore they shouldn’t expect any more—like being taken seriously for the Presidency.

Call it out, friends.

I don’t care if you’re for Obama or not. But be intelligent and fair enough to make this campaign at least an even playing field instead of a generous gift graciously given by the white community to this fine, upstanding, articulate black man who also seems to smell good.

I am frustrated, and not because I am for any particular candidate. I have, and always will be, apolitical—not because I’m anti-American, but because I think politics is the last possible venue to change the hearts of people. And I am in the business and passion of impacting the emotional life of my generation.

But I do see when people are calling an ace an ace and a spade a spade, and I do feel the underlying tones of repressed racism in the smirk and grin and the pat on the back by the good ole’ boy network, graciously allowing for this one-time occurrence.

Do I have basis for my point? Yes, considering that the last time we put forth a woman for higher office was Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and we have waited twenty-four years to bestow that “honor” –until Hillary Clinton was taken seriously as a candidate for the highest office.

Twenty-four years is hardly the confirmation and continuation of a break-through

We must understand how our own society works. Capitalism functions in the tension between greed and need—greed in the sense that people of ingenuity find ways to market and collect profit off of the demand they see in this society. And need in the sense that when it becomes obvious that there is a compelling cry for change, if people of substance and integrity will stand and enter the marketplace before the greedy step in to take control, we can actually see progress made instead of just a fattening of some corporation’s bottom line.

I welcome this election because it is a forum, foray and verdict, if you will, on whether the American dream is actually accessible or merely for sale.

But…we must be careful not to allow the greedy to overwhelm the needy. That is our responsibility as American citizens who truly want to give place to great ideas but also make room for ideas that need time to become great.

So congratulations to both John McCain and Barack Obama. I do not think we should say that we have made history because we have nominated a disabled veteran who is over seventy years of age, still battling with bouts of skin cancer. I think that would be rude, don’t you? Well, it’s just as rude to proclaim that we made history by including a man of color, who was supposed to be included in the first place.

Damn that notion and the donkey or elephant it rode in on…

Premier’s coming up on September 13^th. I saw the final draft of the movie and it is HOT, funny and rockin’. Get online and get your tickets because we only have 530 seats.

Yours,

Blog for Friday August 22^nd, 2008.

I sat down with a few of the staff and actors and watched the rough cut of the movie FOUR ON THE FLOOR. Though a bit ragged around the edges (polish in progress) it was like nothing else we have done so far; considering the variety of styles we have pursued that is saying a lot.

Three things continue to blow my mind.

1. The DEDICATION. On every frame you can feel the hard work and passion mingled with an enlightening burst of joy and fun that all the actors and staff are achieving during filming. I listen to the music included from all the up-and-coming-soon-to-be-discovered Nashville bands that loaned their craft to the soundtrack. The movie is funny, sexy, thought provoking, rockin’, intuitive and silly. Consider that combination.

2. The GROWTH. We are growing. To grow you have to be willing to plant seed, while weeding something out. We plant new ideas and experimentation and we weed out the things that just don’t work or maybe, right now, we just can’t do.

Things only get better when you are willing to admit they aren’t good.

Don’t cut yourself slack over your lack.

Be tough on yourself and then you will not have to hear it so much from others. That’s what really pisses us all off!

3. The BELIEF. Everything of quality we do in our life demands an element of faith. Faith it needs to be out there in the market. Faith that we can pull it off enough to demonstrate what we mean.

I don’t trust people who don’t find the spiritual side to everything they do.